Of Elves and Their Love of Plants
by kaitokitty
Summary: Pippin and Merry find out how much Legolas really loves nature....At least...they think they do


"Merry, are you sure this...potted plant...is a good present for Legolas?" Pippin asked between breaths as he and Merry rushed down the hall with a tree sapling between them in a clay pot. It wasn't a particularly large pot, but between two young halflings it could have been mistaken for a bathtub.

"Of course it's a good present! Don't you want to repay Legolas for that lovely basket of fruit he sent us?" Merry shifted his hold on the pot a bit" Besides, Strider...or King Strider, or whatever, told us that Legolas was a wood elf! And he also said..." Merry shifted again "that wood elves _loved _plants! So much that...that they could TALK to them!"

Pippin was still skeptical. "Impossible! Not even ELVES can love plants _that _much..."

Merry persisted "It's true! You remember how he swooned and goggled at every single tree we passed in Lothlorien! He obviously has a very very close relationship to nature; it's a part of who he is. He's practically..." Merry didn't get to finish what he was saying as they saw a blond figure gliding down the hall. At a closer look, Merry noticed that it was the elf they were currently discussing.

"QUICK! HIDE! Hide the plant! It's supposed to be a surprise!" Merry and Pippin frantically ran around looking for a hiding place and managed to stuff the little sapling behind a tapestry hanging on the wall, but it was hardly worth the effort, for Legolas merely strided past them rubbing his eyes. Had not Merry called out his name Legolas would have missed them completely.

"Legolas? What's wrong?" Merry, ever the observant one, noticed that their elf friend wasn't looking so well. Well, "not looking so well" would be an understatement... As the elf turned to them, the two hobbits gasped in surprise, Legolas's usually calm and regal-looking face was quite disheveled, his eyes were red and swollen, his nose kept twitching, and his cheeks were stained with tears. He'd sniff every now and then as if coming out from a good cry.

As you can imagine, the two good hearts that they were, Merry and Pippin were quite concerned. "L...Legolas? What's wrong? Should I get Strider? Why are you crying?" Pippin asked quickly as Legolas's eyes once again brimmed with tears.

"Nay Pippin, it is nothing you should concern yourself over." Legolas answered wiping his eyes, but had a surprisingly even tone, as if he were not at all troubled.

Plant momentarily forgotten, Pippin and Merry persisted. "But Legolas! If it fills you with so much grief, we can not take it lightly!" Merry added, now very determined to deal justice to whomever it was that caused his friend so much sorrow.

"No Merry, I have just come from the kitchen, I was helping the cooks with dinner," Legolas began to reassure them, but was interrupted as another bout of tears welled up in his eyes.

"That's TERRIBLE!" said Pippin with sudden understanding, "you mean you helped prepare dinner...and...and...you didn't even get to EAT ANY!" Pippin was horrified, he couldn't imagine many things worse than being denied food.

Legolas gave him an odd but amused look and said "nay, that is not the problem either, you see, we drew straws, I drew the shortest one, and therefore, I was given the difficult task of..." here Legolas once again paused to wipe away a few stray teardrops "the task of cutting the onions. I need to go rinse my eyes with clear water now..."

Pippin was amazed, Legolas was always so cool and collected, he didn't even show this much emotion on the quest of the ring! And misunderstanding Legolas's meaning he said "oh! that's terrible! They should never have made you do it, those barbarians!" Merry agreed, "yes, well, if...if it's any consolation...I'm...um...I'm really sorry about your onions, you must have been really close...so...if there's anything we can do for you...don't hesitate to ask ...ok?"

Sending another odd look their way Legolas thanked them and bid them farewell has he left to go rinse the onion out of his eyes. The two hobbits were left standing awestruck in the hallway. "Wow..." Pippin said "I think you were right about Legolas's close relationship with nature... I never knew he was that...devoted"

As they retrieved the potted sapling from its hiding place Merry said "Don't look at me, I can't believe it much myself...wow...I'll never be able to eat another plant in front of him again..."

Pippin sighed "I think we should see Strider about this...we can't have him accidentally tossing up some salad for Legolas can we now?"

"No ..." Merry agreed "No indeed."

fin.

_Written by FC. whew...wrote that in like...three days. The idea wouldn't leave me alone though, so I had to write it down. It didn't come out as well as I wanted, but I'm still practicing right? Let me know what you think, and story ideas are always...usually...welcome!_


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